Taurine supplement makes animals live longer — what it means for people is unclear
牛磺酸补充剂可以延长动物的寿命ーー这对人类意味着什么还不清楚

The energy-drink ingredient offers striking health benefits in mice, monkeys and worms. But more work is needed to investigate its link with ageing.
这种能量饮料成分对老鼠、猴子和蠕虫的健康有着惊人的好处。但是还需要更多的工作来调查它与衰老的关系。

Ageing mice, worms and monkeys can live longer or healthier lives when fed large amounts of taurine, a common ingredient in health supplements and energy drinks, a study suggests.
一项研究表明，老化的老鼠、蠕虫和猴子如果摄入大量的牛磺酸，可以活得更长或更健康。牛磺酸是健康补充剂和能量饮料中的一种常见成分。

Researchers showed that levels of the naturally occurring amino acid — which has been linked to other aspects of health — decline as the animals age, and that offsetting this loss with a taurine supplement might delay the development of age-related health problems.
研究人员发现，随着动物年龄的增长，自然产生的氨基酸水平(这种氨基酸与健康的其他方面有关)会下降，用牛磺酸补充剂来抵消这种损失可能会延缓与年龄有关的健康问题的发展。

Scientists warn that there are many other factors involved in ageing, and that it is not clear whether the findings, published on 8 June in Science1, will translate to humans. But the study could offer a starting point for future research into treatments that help people to stay healthy and live longer.
科学家们警告说，衰老还有许多其他因素，目前尚不清楚这一发现是否会转化为人类的研究成果，该研究结果发表在6月8日的《科学》杂志上。但是这项研究可以为将来研究帮助人们保持健康和长寿的治疗方法提供一个起点。

“We are looking at a multicentric, multinational intervention trial in humans,” said study co-author Vijay Yadav, a geneticist at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, during a press conference discussing the work.
“我们正在研究一项多中心、多国参与的人体干预试验,”该研究的合著者、纽约哥伦比亚大学瓦格洛斯哥伦比亚大学医学院遗传学家维贾伊 · 亚达夫(Vijay Yadav)在讨论这项工作的新闻发布会上说。

“We are very excited to take on that journey.”
“我们很高兴踏上这段旅程。”

Anti-ageing action 抗衰老作用
Over the past two decades, scientists worldwide have intensified efforts to develop interventions that combat the decline in health that comes with old age.
过去20年来，全世界的科学家加紧努力，制定干预措施，以对抗随着年龄增长而出现的健康下降。

Yadav and his colleagues study changes in blood levels of chemicals linked to ageing, including metabolites, hormones and micronutrients. They chose to focus on taurine because previous studies have linked it to various aspects of animal and human health, including immunity, bone health and nervous-system function.
Yadav 和他的同事研究血液中与衰老有关的化学物质的变化，包括代谢物、激素和微量营养素。他们之所以选择牛磺酸作为研究重点，是因为之前的研究已经将其与动物和人类健康的各个方面联系起来，包括免疫力 、骨骼健康和神经系统功能 。

The researchers measured the blood concentrations of taurine in mice, monkeys and people, and found that levels decrease with age. For example, 15-year-old monkeys had 85% less taurine in their blood than did 5-year-old monkeys.
研究人员测量了老鼠、猴子和人的血液中牛磺酸的浓度，发现牛磺酸浓度随着年龄的增长而降低。例如，15岁的猴子血液中的牛磺酸含量比5岁的猴子少85% 。

It wasn’t clear whether this decline had a role in ageing, or was a simply a result of it.
目前还不清楚这种衰退是否与衰老有关，或者仅仅是衰老的结果。

But when the team fed a daily solution of taurine to a group of mice, the animals’ lifespans increased by around 12% in females and 10% in males, compared with animals in control groups that were not given extra taurine.
但是，当研究小组给一组老鼠喂食每日一次的牛磺酸溶液时，雌性老鼠的寿命延长了约12% ，雄性老鼠的寿命延长了10% ，而对照组老鼠没有给予额外的牛磺酸。

The mice given taurine experienced several health benefits, including increases in muscle endurance and strength. Females had a reduction in behaviours associated with depression and anxiety, and a strengthened immune system.
给予牛磺酸的小鼠经历了几个健康好处，包括增加肌肉耐力和力量。女性抑郁和焦虑相关行为减少，免疫系统增强。

The researchers also gave food containing taurine to Caenorhabditis elegans worms and middle-aged rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). The taurine-fed worms lived longer and were healthier on average than a control group. The monkeys had lower body weights, denser bones and reduced signs of liver damage.
研究人员还给秀丽隐桿线虫和中年恒河猴喂食了含有牛磺酸的食物。与对照组相比，牛磺酸喂养的蠕虫平均寿命更长，更健康。这些猴子体重较轻，骨密度较高，肝损伤的迹象也较少。

Protector of cells 细胞的保护者
The results fit with research at the cellular level showing that “taurine is a protector of cells and it promotes their survival”, says Herminia Pasantes, a biologist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City.
墨西哥城墨西哥国立自治大学的生物学家 Herminia Pasantes 说，研究结果与细胞水平的研究结果相吻合，表明“牛磺酸是细胞的保护者，它促进了细胞的存活”。

She praises the study for exploring this principle in living organisms. However, she warns that ageing is complex, and that taurine by itself, or a lack of it, is not what induces or drives the process.
她赞扬了在生物体中探索这一原理的研究。然而，她警告说，衰老是复杂的，牛磺酸本身，或缺乏牛磺酸，并不是诱导或驱动这一过程。

Another point of concern for Pasantes is that the mice in the experiment were given high doses of taurine relative to their body weight — levels that might far exceed the recommended safe consumption limits if extrapolated to humans.
帕桑蒂斯担心的另一个问题是，实验中的老鼠摄入的牛磺酸剂量相对于它们的体重很高，如果外推到人类身上，这个剂量可能远远超过建议的安全摄入限制。

Yadav says that variables other than body weight should be considered when calculating doses, such as an animal’s use of oxygen, caloric expenditure and blood volume. The team fed the mice between 15 and 30 milligrams of taurine per day depending on their age.
亚达夫说，在计算剂量时，应该考虑体重以外的变量，比如动物的耗氧量、卡路里消耗量和血容量。研究小组根据老鼠的年龄，每天给它们喂食15到30毫克的牛磺酸。

“Approximately, these doses will be equivalent to 3 to 6 grams of taurine for an 80-kilogram body weight,” says Yadav, which is within safe limits according to European Food Safety Authority recommendations. A typical energy drink contains around 1 gram of taurine.
根据欧洲食品安全局的建议，Yadav 说: “对于80公斤的体重来说，这些剂量大约相当于3到6克的牛磺酸。”。一个典型的能量饮料含有约1克牛磺酸。

Steven Karpowicz, a biochemist at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, points out that although the animal studies suggest that taurine is associated with ageing, there is no direct observation of cause and effect.
波塔利斯东新墨西哥大学的生物化学家史蒂文 · 卡波维茨指出，虽然动物研究表明牛磺酸与衰老有关，但是没有直接观察到因果关系。

“There may be one or more metabolites related to, or derived from, taurine that are associated with the molecular mechanisms of ageing,” he says.
他说: “可能有一种或多种代谢产物与牛磺酸有关，或来源于牛磺酸，这些代谢产物与衰老的分子机制有关。”。

The authors acknowledge that the chemical mechanisms by which taurine actually influences cells at a molecular level are not fully understood.
作者承认牛磺酸实际上在分子水平上影响细胞的化学机制尚不完全清楚。

At the press conference, Yadav said they would not recommend that people consume over-the-counter taurine supplements to try to preserve health or slow ageing.
在新闻发布会上，亚达夫说，他们不会建议人们服用非处方的牛磺酸补充剂来试图保持健康或延缓衰老。

“We are looking at what are the initial events that taurine elicits in the cells and in different organs,” Yadav said. “Only then will we be able to target specific mechanisms.”
亚达夫说: “我们正在研究牛磺酸在细胞和不同器官中引发的最初事件。”。“只有这样，我们才能瞄准具体机制。”

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